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CHAPTER XIII - THE DAY OF THE WEDDING OF MATRIARCH OPAL BEIFONG OF THE WESTERN AIR TEMPLE TO HER FIANCÉ PATRIARCH KAI OF THE SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE AND MOST OF THE EVENTFUL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE ON THAT DAY
- WINTER, EARLY 193 AG -
The sun set under the mountainous regions of the Northern Air Temple. A box of rifles basked under the twilight. Captain Ren breathed, took aim and fired. The bullet shot out and hit its target painted onto a distant tree.
The airbending rifles were newly designed and manufactured in Zaofu for the North at the request of the Patriarch. They barrelled the force of an airbending current to propel ammunition at incredible speeds.
But they were much too violent, unsuitable for use by any representatives of the Air Nation – at least, according to Jinora, Ikki and their mother, so the North was ordered to get rid of them. The Chairwoman would surely have let it slide until a few months ago, when she found peace, not to mention the new Avatar.
It was a predicament for the North, though, they invested too much to dispose of the weapons, but where would they find airbenders to sell their batch of guns to?
Meelo had watched his captain hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye with the taboo rifle. "We don't wanna be late, Ren," he reminded the captain, too preoccupied with his training to notice the passage of time. Or maybe he had had enough of Ren's showing off.
The Captain packed his weapon away with the others and walked inside the airship, box in hand, and sat the box down in an inconspicuous corner, hoping his Patriarch would stay quiet about it. He did, but not without raising an eyebrow.
"You can never be too safe," Ren justified.
The capital had never been so lively. No one could have predicted such an event to take place during a cold, winter evening.
The crescent moon could only be seen half of the time, the airships were numerous in quantity, size, style and colour.
"Uh, Ikki, how many Fire Nation airships are we expecting?" asked Jinora, looking out the window.
"Huh? It should only be the Firelord's." She sighed and got up out of her chair to walk to the window. "What did he bring a couple extra to- Hot flameo!" It seemed as though the Firelord brought as many airships as he had docked in his lands.
"I think he brought more than a couple extra," said Jinora. "And the President didn't disappoint either." She pointed towards the eastern sky which was dotted in green.
But it wasn't just the President's United Earth States ships, though they were the vast majority, they saw different shades of green. Representatives of the independent states - Omashu, Kyoshi City, Zaofu and Gaoling - had come, but there were an unexpectedly large number of Gaoling Beifong airships, if they counted – the Beifongs of Gaoling were more numerous than even the Zaofu party – why? The Vice Chairwoman knew that Gaoling and Zaofu had given up on sorting out their differences. The bride was a Zaofu Beifong - had the Gaolings come to show their support? The President of the United States was influential, but even he couldn't have eased tensions between the split clan, could he? No, Zaofu had done nothing but grow since their declaration of independence, the only thing delaying their ever expanding borders from growing more than they already have was their jealous and stubborn neighbours being reluctant to trade over land deeds, there was no reason for them to step back into the shadows of their Gaoling counterparts, calling themselves the 'Main Beifong Family' or 'Original Beifongs'. So why are there so many Gaoling Beifongs here?
"Daaamn!" Sung ran up and glued himself to the window.
"Hey!" Jinora snapped. "No swearing!"
"Where did he learn that-" Ikki realised the answer as she asked and sighed. "Rohan…"
He tugged Jinora's cape to grab her attention. "Hey, why did they bring so many? Do you know?"
She looked down at Sung, "I think I have a pretty good idea." She was looking directly at the reason.
"Well," Ikki said. "A proper, traditional Air Nomad wedding was never on the table, anyway."
"Why not?" asked the curious Avatar. "Cause they're not all airbenders?"
"A proper wedding requires all the guests to offer a few words of congratulations and encouragement to the bride and groom."
"No way, that'd take forever!"
"Well, the Air Temples were never so densely populated. The whole thing wouldn't last more than a couple hours in those times."
Sung was still fixated on the thousands of guests that filled the island and hundreds of balloons that filled the sky.
"Your parents' wedding wasn't like this, was it?"
"From what Mom told us," answered Ikki. "It was a pretty average wedding."
"And to be honest," said Jinora. "From what I've read and the pictures I've seen, I don't think even Grandpa Aang and Gran Gran's wedding was this big."
"I guess the Avatar's more popular nowadays," said Ikki.
"Wh..." Sung was confused. "They're here because of me?"
Jinora and Ikki giggled.
"Grandpa Aang..." Ikki thought out loud. "He'd be so happy to see the new Air Nation."
Jinora turned her attention to the extravagant, live wedding gifts in cages - exotic animals from across the continent. Near them were containers of wildly expensive furniture, adorned with deeply coloured emeralds and faded, milky rubies. The other gifts were either too small or distant to make out, but Jinora was sure they were similarly valuable - in a materialistic sense, at least. She wondered if her grandfather's reaction would be completely positive. "I'm not entirely sure if this is what he had in mind."
. . .
After the ceremony, it was time to eat. Most of the guests dined outside, there simply wasn't enough room indoors. They were content, though, the firebenders ousted the cold - they acted more like servants than guests, no doubt instructed by Firelord Iroh.
Everyone inside was having a similarly pleasant time - especially the newly wed husband and wife.
They had sat at many tables throughout the evening, but near the end of the night, had been at a table along with Firelord Iroh, President Lee, Chairwoman Jinora, Vice Chairwoman Ikki and Avatar Sung.
"So, Avatar Sung," the slimy, old president addressed the boy who was stuffing his mouth. "I see you're dressed in orange. Don't you think green would look much better?" He tried to seem friendly.
Sung had to wait to chew and swallow before answering, but he didn't. "No, I think these clothes are- are cool! And so are those blue arrows! I wanna get them when I master airbending!"
"You…" The President blinked his eyes at a loss for words.
Ikki smiled uncomfortably.
"This was great!" said Opal. "Firelord Iroh, President Lee, we're so glad you brought your, uh..."
"Entire countries?" finished Jinora.
The Firelord chuckled. "Well," he said, meeting President Lee's eyes for a moment. "We wanted to show our support."
Who's the married couple here? Jinora thought.
"Yes," added Lee, reading his watch. "And I believe the main event is about to begin."
I thought our marriage was the main event? Opal wanted to say, but instead she smiled ignorantly. "Excuse me?"
"Ikki," Jinora nudged her and talked through the side of her mouth. "What's he talking about?"
Ikki's blank smile and blinking eyes revealed how much she knew.
Jinora saw President Lee grin as his elite earthbenders had gathered around the hall after leaving their tables. They began to move in unison and the roof of the hall detached itself from the building's walls.
"Hey!" Jinora stood up and guarded Sung. "What's going on!?"
The guests watched in amazement as the roof, which was already being hoisted away by an airship, revealed the starry night sky. And then...
BANG!
An explosion of green and orange lights took the attention away from the moon and stars. The spectators gasped and applauded.
"Whoa..." Sung was mesmerised.
"...F-fireworks?" Jinora calmed down and returned to her seat.
It was a beautiful display. The wedded couple held hands as they watched with their teary eyes, in their own little world.
Jinora saw Meelo smiling at her from a few tables down. Why is he sitting at the Zaofu table?
Meelo dined with the bride's parents, attempting to hire off his security specialists to Zaofu.
"Amazing," Suyin marvelled at something, technically, more impressive. "No dust or debris." She inspected the tables and floors. "Not on the ground... not anywhere."
"Yeah," said Meelo. "I guess the Dai Li specialise in party tricks nowadays."
"Yes," Su laughed. "Well, Lee and his goons are gonna need more than a few pretty lights if they wanna steal the Avatar away from your nation."
"You're mistaken, Su, the Air Nation isn't in possession of the Avatar," Meelo replied, turning towards his sisters' table. "The capital is."
"I didn't realise the Air Nation was so divided. Hopefully it doesn't stay that way. Now where were we- Uh, Patriarch..." Su noticed something on Meelo's face when he returned to his food. "You have a little... something- is... is that blood?"
Meelo touched under his nose and looked at his finger - it was definitely blood. Ren immediately got up and came to Meelo's side. He urged him to get up and shuffled him along towards the nearest restroom.
"Is everything okay?" asked Bataar.
"It's fine," Ren assured the table as he pushed Meelo along. "If you'll excuse us."
. . .
A mixture of blood and vomit fell into the toilet. Meelo was hunched over it in the cubicle, with Ren at his side.
"The medicine!" Meelo shouted. "I need more! I- Ough-" He coughed more blood into the bowl.
Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out the small, cylindrical, plastic container. Meelo snatched it and emptied the remaining pills down his mouth.
"You're getting worse..." said Ren. "What happened to you? How did this start?"
"I told you!" He coughed. "I'm just a little sick! It'll go away! I'll be fine!"
"What about Zaofu? They haven't signed the contract yet!"
Meelo couldn't think straight with his head spinning, but he knew he couldn't pitch a sale in the sorry state he was in. "You... You do it... It's okay if they don't sign today, just get them interested. Leave me here, I'll be fine."
"Yes, Patriarch." He straightened his suit and unlocked the cubicle.
"Ren," Meelo stopped him.
"Yes?"
"...Be friendly... use their first names."
The captain nodded and left.
. . .
"Suyin, Bataar." Ren returned to the table, this time sitting in Meelo's seat.
"Ren," said Suyin concernedly. "Where's Meelo, is he okay?"
"He's... been feeling a little under the weather recently, don't worry it's nothing serious. He pushed himself to attend today, see, that's the kind of determination we cultivate in the North, we-"
"It's okay, Ren," Su held her palm out at him to end his sales pitch prematurely. "We want to sign."
"Y-you do?" said Ren, before putting the contract on the table.
"Look around, Ren," said Bataar.
He did. He saw Earth States officials dining with Gaoling Beifong nobles.
"This is a message, the President and our cousins from the south are planning something," said Su. "We're going to need your specialised security forces at our borders, as insurance."
"Whatever qualms your Patriarch has with his sisters," said Bataar, "he should settle them, soon."
"In the meantime," said Su, signing the contract, "we'll build an image of strength – The Northern Alliance."
"Zaofu, Your Northern Air Temple and our daughter's and son-in-law's Western and Southern Air Temples," Bataar informed.
"Our borders have expanded considerably, we have more land than we can fully secure right now – we want to avoid clashing with Jinora, but we need to prepare our cities for the worst should Gaoling make a move. Meelo was ahead of the curve, he's a very smart man, his offer is the best decision for Zaofu, we see that now." She placed the contract in Ren's hands.
. . .
As the last fireworks fizzled out, a thunderous applause filled the capital.
"Chairwoman," An inconspicuous man in orange called Jinora as she dined at the table before bending over to whisper something in her ear over the clapping.
She nodded, dismissed the man, wiped her mouth and got up. "Excuse me, something has come up." She walked past all the important guests she should have greeted and came to the door of the men's room. She took a deep breath before-
"You can't go in- in there," said Sung.
Jinora turned to squint at the boy. "It's my island, I can go where I want. And how did get here without a crowd of people all over you?"
"There was a crowd but I told them I had to pee."
"Sung, what did I tell you about lying?"
Sung held his bladder and danced. "I-I wasn't lying!"
Jinora sighed and went inside with him. She knocked on the only locked cubicle while Sung relieved himself. "It's the janitor, open up."
"Do you even know what a janitor is, Jinora?" said Meelo, immediately recognising her voice. "I don't think they clean toilets while they're in use."
"Just open the damn door!"
"Hey, how come you're allowed to say it?" Sung asked, still peeing.
"Is that the Avatar?" asked Meelo.
"Alright, I'm coming in." She sent wind inside to unlatch the lock and walked in to see Meelo sat beside the toilet.
"Spirits!" She held her nose, smelling the sickness in the toilet bowl. "You know how to flush?" She tried to do it for him but nothing happened.
"I flushed it a couple minutes ago, you have to wait a little."
The blood in the toilet and on his clothes and mouth told her that it wasn't just too many drinks or a common cold that did this to him. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing! How did you even know I was here?"
"It's her island," said Sung, who still hadn't finished. "She knows everything."
"Yes, and I also know about your little arrangement with Zaofu that Su just signed."
"What's to know? I never hid anything from you." He coughed and a little more blood came out. "Wait... They signed the contract? Already?"
"Yeah," Jinora replied. "They're afraid of the other Beifongs from Gaoling."
"Oh... I see..."
"'You see' my ass! You told the President to bring the Beifongs here, didn't you? You scared them into signing so you could cash in!"
"What? No, Jinora-"
"Ugh, I can't believe you, this is a new low, even for you! Su trusted you, I trusted you! I'm going to tell her everything! I'm not gonna let her go through with this!"
"But she already signed it," said Sung.
"You- How long are you gonna pee for!?"
"I'm done." He stepped in front of the open cubicle.
"Come on, Sung," She grabbed his hand and led him out. "Let's go!"
"Wait," called Meelo. But it was too late, the door slammed and Meelo was alone again. "...He didn't wash his hands..."
. . .
Most of the guests had left the dining hall when Jinora marched back in, and Sung had left her side, too.
"Su, there's something you should know."
Su turned around. "Chairwoman, I was just telling your sister what a great event she organised here,"
"Actually, Su, I didn't-" Ikki began.
"Forget about that, this is more important - it's about the deal you just signed with the North," said Jinora. "Meelo-"
"Don't listen to her!" Meelo stumbled in. "Anything she says is a lie!"
"Wh-wha- Meelo-"
"What?" Su said, almost laughing. "What's going on here?"
"Meelo, are you okay?" Ikki was more concerned about his pale skin than anything.
"I'm fine, Ikki," He turned back to Su. "Su, Jinora thinks I tricked you into signing the contract by asking President Lee to bring the Beifongs here, but I promise that that's not true, I would never scam you like that."
Su exhaled. "With all due respect, Chairwoman, I wouldn't do business with someone I didn't trust. The Gaoling Beifongs are here to demonstrate their return to the world stage. I know how my cousins are, Jinora - Meelo didn't have anything to do with this. I'm not sure what problems you have with your brother, but he's not the man you demonise him to be."
"See, I told you Jinora - I'm innocent."
"Besides, Meelo doesn't have that kind of sway with the President, anyway."
His expression dropped. "Was that last part really necessary?"
"Meelo, you're-" Su pointed to her nose, indicating Meelo's. "You're bleeding again."
Ikki saw blood coming from Meelo's nose.
ELEVEN YEARS AGO - 182 AG
Ikki came in and saw the entire family gathered around the table. She snorted when she saw the cake.
It was Rohan's twelfth birthday, his first since getting his tattoos, so he had insisted on a massive cake with an image of himself airbending crudely drawn on with icing. Pema's face blushed red as half the family sniggered at her attempt to portray her son.
Rohan was happy with it, though, he grinned ear to ear as he got ready to blow the candles out.
"Seriously?" Ikki nudged Meelo.
"I know right," he said. "Hey watch this."
Ikki raised an eyebrow as Meelo raised his arms. She felt a draft. From the walls?
Rohan filled his lungs with- Wait, no he didn't - he tried to fill his lungs with air and take a huge breath to blow the candles out but he couldn't breathe. Neither could anyone else.
The family rose to a slight panic as they wondered where their supply of oxygen went when they saw a tiny, white, glistening stone float down from the air - or lack thereof - and into the cake. They turned to Meelo who had been waving his hands around while smiling mischievously.
He threw his hands apart. "Air Bomb!" The compressed air exploded back outwards across the room, along with the cake.
Tenzin wasn't amused by the icing in his beard, but Bumi was. Pema's cake-covered jaw dropped along with her poor Rohan's, he was nearly in tears, mourning his cake, parts of which painted his face. His sugar-coated siblings nearly collapsed wheezing.
"His face!" Jinora barely made out through her uncontrollable laughter.
Rohan snapped out of his depression and into a rage. "This is not funny!"
Ikki saw Meelo lick his face clean, but there was still a little red under his nose. Did the cake have red icing on it? "Meelo, I think you have a nose-bleed."
PRESENT - 193 AG
The President crept into the room of the young Avatar.
"Sung, it's President Lee, I wanted to talk with you if that's okay."
The figure that greeted him wasn't of the pale-skinned earth boy, but of a familiar, dark-skinned woman dressed in formal blue attire.
"Lee," she spat the name out like an insult.
"A-Avatar Korra…" He stuttered at first but regained his wit quickly. "Back from the dead, I see." Lee closed the door behind him.
"Preying on little boys, I see."
"…I thought I was rid of you…"
"Yeah, well, either way, I would have killed myself if I had to see your greasy face again, anyway."
"I'm surprised you don't suspect me of having something to do with it."
"You're still breathing - Jinora and the Air Nation would've buried you if you had anything to do with the Red Lotus."
"While we're on the subject - tell your next life that it's time to stop playing Air Nomad and return to the States!" he shouted quietly, he couldn't risk alerting anyone.
"You don't know that he's from the United States, he could be from Omashu or Gaoling." Lee sighed. "Oh, wait," she continued joyfully. "If he was, he would never have been kidnapped, or at the very least, his birth would have been recorded."
"Alright, I'm still the President and I will not be spoken to-"
"Please," Korra waved her hand. "You're the president of Ba Sing Se and some deserts, backwater swamps and farm states that can't even keep proper records."
"So you admit it The Avatar was born in my borders!"
"It's still a democracy, comb-over."
It made no difference, Lee won the elections every time, there weren't any other candidates that wouldn't be completely crushed by the media every election cycle, manipulated by Lee.
"He's a United Earth States citizen! And he needs to come home!"
"The Avatar is a citizen of all nations, blind to borders, neutral."
"You were… a pain in my ass to put it lightly, but you didn't run around in orange or get airbending tattoos!"
"I…" she started. "Have gotten tattoos many times over my many lives."
"You're letting your personal feelings of me get in the way of Sung's future. An Avatar can't fully embrace a foreign culture and appear neutral!"
However much Korra wanted to deny it, he wasn't completely wrong – integrating into the Air Nation would be seen as bias, but with the Republic in tatters, going to Ba Sing Se would only be seen as natural by the watchful eyes of the world.
"Hmph." She folded her arms and began to grow transparent. "Fine, you can try to poison the kid's mind, but he's smarter than you suit-wearing louts give him credit for!" she said, before disappearing.
Sung was left standing unconscious, he would have fell on his face if the President hadn't caught him. He let out a sigh and a vulgar curse and carried the boy to his bed before tucking him in, turning off the lights and leaving quietly.
. . .
With the roof of the main hall reattached and the conclusion of the after party, the night had truly come to an end. Only Meelo's group remained.
Ikki boarded the airship that bared the Northern insignia – it was the last one left. "Ikki?" Though he was talking to Ren, Meelo noticed his sister enter immediately. "No clipboard? I thought that thing was surgically attached to your hand."
"Can I talk to you for a second, Meelo?" She approached him and Ren. "...In private?" The Vice Chairwoman dismissed Meelo's captain and made sure he was far enough away before continuing.
"What is it?"
"Are you sick or something?"
"I told you, I'm fine, Mom," he said sarcastically. "Can I go back to my temple now?"
"No, you can't." She felt his forehead. "No temperature, this isn't your everyday cold, this is internal."
"Hey!" He grabbed her invading wrist. "Aren't you supposed to be on Jinora's right shoulder, telling her how evil I am?"
"You're a good liar, I'll give you that, I can never tell when you're lying so I assume the worst - maybe I was wrong to do that but," Ikki scoffed and pulled her hand back, "it doesn't take a genius to know that you're hiding something, I know that much, and if it has anything to do with this-"
"Thanks for your concern, Ikki, but," he raised his voice so the pilot could hear, "we're taking off now."
"Will the Vice Chairwoman be accompanying us?" asked one of the crew.
"I don't know," he replied. "Is she?" Ikki remained silent for an uncomfortably long moment. "Well?-"
"Shh!" Ikki shushed him. "Do you hear that?" She didn't wait for an answer and instead dashed outside. Meelo followed her. Captain Ren, noticing them, did the same.
They saw a black dot in the distance, it could barely be made out in the darkness but as it came closer they recognised it as a chopper headed straight towards them.
Standing in the open doorway was a hooded person. Behind him sat a massive pile of iron weapons - hammers, long swords, daggers, spears, maces, knives and scabbards.
"The One of a Thousand Swords." Ren had the best vision, he saw him first and immediately ran back inside the airship.
It was the first time any of them had seen the One in person.
DAYS AGO
"The One of a Thousand Swords?" Jinora repeated the name back to her sister, the only other one in the office. "Why does that sound so familiar?"
"It's an old children's story, parents use it to scare their kids into going to sleep on time," Ikki explained as she laid the far-ranged, zoomed pictures on the desk. "A mysterious, hooded shadow-person that drags around a sack full of one thousand swords that fly towards you and stab you."
"So, a very talented but inefficient metalbender?"
"Well, the real-world equivalent has to be, but this story is hundreds of years old, it's been told since before Opal's grandma even invented metalbending."
Jinora looked at the low-resolution images scattered across her table. A hooded figure standing in a chopper. The cockpit windows were tinted, so the pilot couldn't be seen at all. It wasn't much, but suspicious activity like this could only be the Red Lotus, but why were they so flamboyant? "A military helicopter instead of a sack. That's quite the upgrade."
"The images were taken in the deserts south of Ba Sing Se, right in the middle of United States territory. They attacked a group of Sandbenders."
"Lee knows about this?"
"He has to. But he didn't say anything to us about it."
"What were they doing attacking the Sandbenders?"
Ikki answered Jinora with another picture. "They were hunting. For this."
Jinora noticed the subject of the picture, but wondered if she was missing something for a moment.
"A... flower?"
The flower had a purple stalk and teal petals.
"But it's not an ordinary flower," Ikki began explaining.
WEEKS AGO
"It's a rare spirit flower that grows in the desert," Kav said. "It's the special ingredient we used to make the stuff, but we ran out."
"...Okay...?" Kaili said. "So, go get more of it."
"It's not that simple," Kav began explaining. "Ya see, the Sandbenders are hoarding them all, they've apparently discovered its healing properties and don't wanna seem to share them. We can't just barge in - any violence in this part of the country would attract attention, we might as well just paint a big red lotus on the side of our chopper."
"Wait!" Kaili exclaimed. "I just thought of an idea!"
"You know a way we could get our hands on the flowers without attracting attention?" Kav had come to Kaili in hopes that she would have a quiet solution.
"No, even better, we're gonna go in guns blazing!"
"...What?"
"I'm gonna pay some visits to some old friends."
PRESENT
Ren opened the box as fast as he could and distributed the guns out to the crew.
"This is not a drill, people! Anyone that can airbend, you're needed outside!"
Ren ran back out brandishing an air-boosted rifle along with his makeshift squad of five. He handed an extra one to Ikki before taking a knee to aim at the approaching threat.
"Wh-wh-You- I thought you guys got rid of these!" she scolded.
"What did you want us to do, sell them off to the airbenders in the States?" Meelo asked sarcastically.
Ikki couldn't deny the difficulty of selling specialised weapons to a non-existent market, but the North had specific instructions.
"You disobeyed Jinora!" she screamed. "Again!"
"Ikki!" Meelo warned, already blasting air at the chopper. "Now is really not the time for this."
Ikki let out a frustrated grunt and took aim. Her and the six other gunmen began assaulting the One. "Shooting metal bullets at a metalbender? Is this really the best plan we have?"
The One's arms danced as the weapons took flight around the chopper. The bullets twanged off of the now orbiting inventory of weapons.
"They're platinum," informed Captain Ren. "Can't bend 'em."
The One made a sudden gesture and the rifles jumped out of their hands, into the water.
"Well," Ren said. "The guns weren't platinum."
He spread his feet and joined his Patriarch. The swords were flying at them now but Ikki airbended them away. She couldn't protect the northern airship from a handful of stray weapons, however. She knew the three of them wouldn't hold them off for long.
Ikki saw the red, flashing lights and heard the island-wide sirens sounding, but no sign of any help. "Where is everyone!?" Ikki saw a war hammer thrown from the chopper arcing towards the office building promptly stop in its tracks and come to a full halt mid-air - right in front of Rohan's face. He had used his airbending to suspend it right as he came out through the front door. "Rohan!" Ikki was glad to see him.
Jinora stepped out beside him wearing an intimidating expression. She grabbed the weighty hammer from Rohan's invisible grasp and, with an almost graceful twirl, hurled the hammer back to where it came from.
But the One had already begun retreating back south with alarming acceleration. Jinora used her chin to tell her captain to go fetch it and the Flying Man immediately took off to follow the One, as impossible as the task seemed.
Had Jinora's glare scared the mythical thing of nightmares away?
The sirens stopped.
Meelo locked eyes with the glaring woman and he froze.
"Did you radio the others!?" she asked, flying towards them. "You need to tell them to ignore the last message and go home!"
"What!?" Ren protested as the capitals defensive forces finally arrived.
"You heard her! Radio them!" Meelo understood what Jinora was thinking as he gestured the pilot back inside.
Meelo just saw what he thought to be the fastest flying object in the world - his brother - left in the dust by a helicopter carrying a heavy load. How it gained such speed was a mystery to him.
It was also a mystery to everyone else, apparently, as Rohan returned to the group sharing his confusion. "Uh, how is that thing faster than me?"
"I don't know." Jinora answered quickly. "Meelo, you might wanna go home, too. My guys can handle things from here if that chopper decides to come back."
"Wait," Ren was slightly lost. "What's going on? Why is everyone retreating all of a sudden?"
"Are you deaf, Captain?" Jinora was already irritated by the sudden invader. "That thing just flew faster than Rohan! This was probably a feint, they could be going anywhere!"
"Helicopters can fly at much higher altitudes than airships so they might not have been spotted," Ikki added. "And with their speed, they could have already turned northwards or eastwards or anywhere - they could be-"
"Captain Rohan!" One of Rohan's men called him, it had to be extremely important to have interrupted the Vice Chairwoman. "The Avatar... He..."
"Sung?" Rohan saw the Avatar crouched down, curled into a ball with his hands covering his head. The defence force surrounded him, asking if he was okay. His mouth moved but not in reply. "What happened to him!? Was he hit!?" Rohan shouted.
As Rohan got closer he could hear what Sung was saying.
"No! No! He's real! He's real!"
"Sung," Rohan tried his best to comfort him. "It's okay, Sung, he's gone." He saw no physical injuries on his student, but the One of a Thousand Swords seemed to really freak him out.
Sung just barely snapped out of whatever state he was in. "I'm sorry." he said, before tunnelling underground like a badgermole.
"Sung!"
The pilot ran back out. "Everyone's going home, no sign of the chopper." The pilot turned to Meelo. "Patriarch, we're ready for flight."
The sound of a microphone turning on could be heard throughout the capital. A distressed woman announced from the comms room. "A helicopter is approaching the Eastern Air Temple carrying the unidentified metalbender."
"What!?"
"It hasn't even been five minutes!"
"Mom!"
"No... that's impossible..."
Pema's East was the most vulnerable Air Temple, half of her forces had left in favour of the capital or the North, where they searched for better training, more funding and frequent outings. There were only a handful of airbenders residing in the east and they wouldn't be able to hold off the One until reinforcements arrive.
Jinora hadn't felt so hopeless in a long, long time. She couldn't remember the last event that made her feel this way.
"How!?" The former fastest being couldn't fathom it, either. "It was fast, but it wasn't that fast... There's no way it could have reached Mom's temple already!" Rohan looked to Jinora for answers, she always has answers, she always knows what to do in these situations. "Jinora, what do we do?"
The capital didn't have choppers, none of the temples did. They had to get outside help if they wanted to protect their mother. Time was especially of the essence.
President Lee, Bolin and his elite earthbenders left recently, they wouldn't even be halfway home yet and Jinora knew that Lee would refuse to send help to the East instead of adding security to Ba Sing Se.
Su would help but she and her already small army was too far north.
Gaoling didn't have the manpower to spare, either, in fact, even if they did, they'd rather see the Matriarch killed.
Firelord Iroh was headed to his home in the west, he was probably almost there as he had been one of the first to depart. He had plenty of spare helicopters in the Fire Nation capital but it was too far... too far west... unless...
Unless the westerners were sent further west, westwards towards the Eastern Air Temple.
Jinora replied a few seconds after Rohan's question. "Radio Firelord Iroh! Tell him to send as many helicopters filled with firebenders as he can spare from the capital!"
The Eastern Air Temple was located off the south eastern coast of the Earth continent. It had changed the least of its counterparts. It had remained the most spiritual place in the world.
The One hadn't begun attacking yet. They were watched by many of the frightened residents, spectating from their front doors and windows.
What little airbenders and defence the East housed stood in wait outside with their Matriarch.
The helicopter wasn't the only vehicle populating the sky anymore, a red airship with the Fire Nation insignia came into view. Iroh's reinforcements had arrived much sooner than expected. Very soon. Pema saw Fire Nation airships many times, and these ones looked different somehow, maybe it was the fact that-
"They're not Fire Nation!" she warned after a realising gasp.
The airbenders attacked.
The airship already hovered over the mountains before it sent blasts of fire down at the Matriarchs guards. A rope ladder dropped from it as a few masked men and women dressed in white climbed down to attack the-
A column of wind erected itself below the aerial threat - blowing the descending foot soldiers off the ladder and plummeting straight down the cliffside. The airbenders not involved with it took to the skies with their wingsuits to assist. Many of them were shot out of the sky by the spears and knives that started cutting through the air, some had their wingsuits damaged and landed roughly, others were not so lucky.
The airship retreated back closer to the ocean, careful to avoid the One's iron barrage, where a giant, blue tentacle rose to slam down onto the Eastern forces, splashing apart. The water was commanded to collect itself again, and once it did, swatted the few gliders remaining.
Pema and her guards found cover behind the Temple's outer walls.
The three earthbenders who had been blown off the side of the cliff on their descent manipulated the rock to ascend back into battle.
Two of the returning earthbenders struck the wall with stones borrowed from the ground they stood on. The other earthbender had further bending range, he put his arms parallel to each other and pulled them down, along with the wall.
Boulders were hurled at the Matriarchs guards who couldn't withstand the attacks. They were knocked down, along with the Matriarch, herself.
The attack ceased. The men in white didn't drop their guards, however.
"Give up!" said one of the brightly clad earthbenders, his voice could barely be heard over the spinning rotors.
Pema sat up and winced at the pain of her deeply grazed, bleeding arm and leg, her defeated forces scattered around her like autumn leaves. She looked around, she hadn't gotten the worst of it, she couldn't bear to set her eyes on the more horrific injuries for more than a moment.
"We... surrender..." she panted.
The invading party's uniform was an almost reflective white, with tidy golden trims and buttons. Some of them had high collars, some had hoods. Stitched on the left side of their breasts, on their hearts, was the symbol of a red lotus flower.
The earthbenders walked closer as they began restraining the airbenders' bodies, sliding the ground out up to their necks.
The chopper landed and the hooded figure approached the fallen woman, she had no one that could protect her now.
But that didn't stop one man from trying.
Ryu laid in front of his Matriarch, he hadn't been restrained yet. "Red Lotus assholes!" he cried, getting up to-
A rock hit him and the ground swallowed him.
"Actually," said the One, taking off her hood. "We just go by 'The Lotus' nowadays."
It was a fact that the Red Lotus had outlasted the White Lotus after they dissolved, and some White Lotus members had rallied to Kaili's banner in recent years.
"You must be Kaili." Pema had heard descriptions of her. "What do you want?"
"I'm sorry, we wanted to avoid hurting anyone…" Kaili said. She considered Pema's injuries and crouched down to get a better look at them. "We especially didn't wanna hurt you, Matriarch, we have nothing against you, personally, actually, we have you to thank for finally putting a leash on Jinora."
"My… daughter… is… more rabid than you're prepared for. I can't tame her, and neither can you." Pema saw no strength in the white warriors that her children couldn't stomp out within minutes. "Now, what do you want? The Avatar isn't here."
"We just want you, Matriarch." Kaili took a breath, noticing the cowering civilians behind the walls of the Temple. "Everyone else is free." She checked her watch and called one of the earthbenders over and rested her hand on his shoulder, talking quietly into his ear. "Chin, looks like we have some time before the Fire Nation gets here, can we get some healers down for the Matriarch and her soldiers?"
"Sure thing, Kaili," the man bobbed his head up and down and did as he was asked.
"They're not soldiers," Pema said. Kaili gave her an apologetic look. "You're gonna heal us?" Pema asked suspiciously.
"No," Kaili replied. "Tun is." She gestured to one of the jogging waterbenders.
Pema didn't resist the water tribesman's healing when he arrived. "You think you're the good guy because you remember everyone's names and act friendly?"
Kaili didn't let on how much that comment bothered her. "We're the good guys because we're setting the world free."
"You're extremists!"
"The world is extremely flawed. This is the only way to achieve true peace. You'll see."
"This is all I can do for now." Tun helped Pema up off of the ground and supported her weight on his shoulder. "Nothing serious, Kaili, she'll be fine in a couple of weeks."
"Good, let's get her on one of those airships and bring her home with us," Kaili said, walking ahead.
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